1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to methods of and apparatus for light controlled spatial scanning. Accordingly, it is a general object of this invention to provide new and improved methods and apparatus of such character.
2. General Background
It is desirable to provide devices that permit an optical beam to be rapidly scanned from point to point. Such devices could provide an important role in the variable optical interconnect systems for integrated circuits. The use of chirped gratings as focusing elements is well known in the art of integrated optics, as discussed, for example, in "Chirp Grating Lens for Guided Wave Optics" by S. K. Yao and D. E. Thompson, Applied Phys. Letters 33, pp. 635-637 (1978).
Chirped gratings, that is, gratings whose periodicity varies with distance along the grating, have been used in integrated optics to couple guided modes into radiation modes focused at a point or line in space, as discussed by A. Katzir et al., IEEE Journal Quantum Electronics QE-13, pp. 296-304 (1977).